The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
Every time a computer connects to the internet, it is in danger of being exposed to malicious activities such as malware, spying, hacking etc. It is also true that internet access is a necessity for conducting daily activities of a business and personal nature. For an individual, personal information needs protection. For companies, spying or malware are a constant problem to contend with. Generally, companies spend millions of dollars and time to devise ways to protect their digital files and other such information that is under their control.
To combat information theft, some work places isolate particular computers, such as bank teller terminals, for example, from accessing the internet. However, other computers at such institutions require a connection to the internet (e.g., internet banking), thus rendering “secure” computers vulnerable over the company network.
Although there are many known software-oriented products for preventing unauthorized computer access and data loss, these conventional anti-virus and anti-malware programs rely on the use of passwords, which are proven to be the weak link that allows many of the unauthorized access and data loss situations to occur each year. To this end, user passwords are compared in software and once verified provide the password holder with full access to the system and its defense programs. The longer and more complicated the password is, the more difficult it is to break, but can be difficult for the authorized user to remember. As such, passwords must be short enough for a user to remember and enter each time.
Unfortunately, passwords consisting of between 6 and 8 characters can be easily cracked by a hacker using any number of commercially available password cracking programs, and once the unauthorized user obtains the password, they can take full control of the system, lock out the authorized user, and access other computers connected on the network.
Owing to the vulnerability of the above noted software-based protection methodologies, the need exists for a hardware-based solution which can function to physically isolate and protect computer systems and their data from such external threats. The present invention directed to a computer and data protection system differs from the conventional art in a number of aspects. The manner by which will become more apparent in the description which follows, particularly when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.